It’s become more and more a day we spend pretending to be thankful for what we have. All the while we’re preparing to go spend as much money on things we probably don’t really need.

As Black Friday has grown, it’s even taken over Thanksgiving day.

It seems that it is the real holiday now.

What is meant to be a day of reflecting on the things we have and spending time relaxing with family, has now become a day to spend at the store pushing people out of the way to get an insane price on something we don’t need and didn’t know we wanted until now.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with getting things on sale, or even going to the store tomorrow.

But maybe before you do, take the time to be grateful for all the things you have in your life.

As for me, I’m thankful that I have a family that loves me.

A God that has saved me.

A body that is still working, most days anyway.

Friends that support me.

A church that teaches me how to worship God better.

A country that allows me to believe as I see fit.

As you go out this holiday season, maybe you can also remember that the people helping you in the stores are people too.

And that, most of the time, they are giving up their time with their family to help you in the store.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” Matthew 5:16

I believe that the best way for us to witness to those around us in our daily lives is by the way that we live. It’s not that we can’t witness with our words. I think that we can and should do that too.

But if our words are the only witness we give and our actions do not match our words, than we are doing much more harm than good.

I’m not always the best at this.

I try to let my actions be my witness to those around me. But I can’t really say that I do that very well.

Let alone, when it does come time to witness with words face to face with others, I’m completely at a loss for words. I can never figure out what to say.

Too many times I’ve fallen back on my quiet happy guy routine and haven’t spoken up when I could have.

It’s a struggle that I’ve always had.

Between being liked and people knowing what I truly believe, I almost always have chosen to be liked.

It’s not something I’m really proud of. But it is the truth.

I feel like I should ask God to give me the strength to speak up about Him, but then I run the risk of having my prayer answered with more and more opportunities so share with others.

I just pray that I can live my life in such a way, that those around me can see something different in me, and that if they ask what that difference is, I have the courage and words to speak truthfully about my faith.

I was reading this morning and in both my scripture and my devotional, which are separate plans, the same theme came up.

So, I’m taking God’s advice and I’m gonna go ahead and write on this again. I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about this before. But maybe I’ll have some new insight today.

I was reading in 1 Timothy 1, where Paul is talking about being the worst of sinners, and yet through God’s grace and mercy God is able to use Paul to His glory.

In my devotional Billy Graham talked about St. Augustine and John Newton, who were both not good men before they had an encounter with God and were forever changed.

It brought to my mind that it seems like God chooses to use the worst and lowest of sinners to do His greatest works.

It seems so contrary to the way most people would think to do things.

But I do believe that He does this very much on purpose and for a specific reason.

God chooses to do this, so that it can be shown as Him working through us and not just us doing things on our own power. He changes that hearts and minds of people who seem unlovable and unchangeable, so that we might be able to see God working and know that the things people do they are definitely not doing on their own, but through the grace and power of God.

I also believe that God uses those of us that don’t think we can do anything good. All we have to do is trust Him and step out into the things we feel He is calling us to.

I know there are many times when I don’t feel I am worth much of anything, and that I don’t think anybody should even bother to listen to me. What do I know that others don’t already know? What do I have to say that hasn’t already been said? Why would anyone really want to listen to me at all?

And yet God calls to me time and time again to share my thoughts. To share my voice. To step out into the water and trust that He will keep me safe.

I guess what I’m trying to say, is that God has a way of using those of us that couldn’t do any of this without Him. On my own I would have no wisdom to share with you. No songs to sing. No words to hear.